24th of July 2008

We haven't been on many camping trips this year. But we took a long 4 day weekend and headed up to Strawberry Reservoir. Here are some pictures/videos and below is a brief recap of the weekend in Brian's words:

Took us about 2 hours total to get to Renegade which we found out was nowhere near Haws Point because I had misread the map online ...duh.
We bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco and Stephie made nigiri with nori and green beans for early dinner.
We went fishing the first night and caught nothing but chubbs. Josh caught a bunch of crawdads that we boiled up and at that night.
The next day Josh and Xander and I hiked up the mountain behind camp and took some neat pictures.
We had dutch oven chicken stew that night. And then more fishing near Big Hole on the north side of Haws Point
The next morning was dutch oven cowboy breakfast. We learned that we need more coals to cook eggs and that you have to have them on the lid even if its just eggs.
We went swimming and we also happened to put some worms in the water even though it's not really fishing at 1:30pm
We came back to camp and found that a family with some cute kids in a black Cadillac Escalade had some battery problems so we fed them and gave them a jump start.
That night we had dutch oven chili with dutch oven cornbread. We stacked the dutch ovens for the first time. Something I have always wanted to do.
The next morning it was off for some more fishing and then back to pack up and head home ...
Great trip overall.

Where do we play on a HOT summer's day?

Cascade Springs was the place this day. We were sitting around on a Saturday morning trying to figure out a fun activity for our family that day. We thought of Cascade Springs in between Provo and American Fork Canyons. We haven't been there for several years and thought the mountain air would provide some much needed relief from a hot city day. Richard (Grandpa) and Vicki (Bachan) decided to drive up there with us. After a long, scary, and winding road we made it there alive. The boys thought it was hysterical I closed my eyes on the parts of the road with drop offs. We walked through the 3 loops of the springs and saw gorgeous scenery. The ponds are so clear you can actually see the fish as clear as day. There were beautiful small waterfalls, plus tons of trees and plants. Just a wonderful setting for a nature walk. Have a look at the pretty pictures we were able to take. We took the shorter and not so scary road over the mountain and down into Midway. Then cut back over to Provo Canyon. We all stopped at El Pollo Loco for dinner in Lehi. It was a great way to end the day!

Obon 2008

Obon time came around and we almost missed it. As usual we forget exactly when it was. It just so happened I was looking at pictures from last year and looked at the date. Thankfully we didn't miss out on the fun. We went down to the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple for the festival. We arrive at 1 pm for lunch. Richard, Lisa and her kids, Mark and Molly all came along. We even brought my little sister Julie along for her first time at Obon. We ate wonderful food like sushi, somen, terriyaki chicken, and Spam. I didn't touch the Spam. But those Spam eaters are adamant about how good it is. I will take my food without the jelly coating. Back to the day... after eating lunch Brian, the boys, and I toured the chapel of the temple. A woman asked if the read carpet on the alter had meaning behind it. The tour guide said "I think it was the cheapest carpet." That gave everyone a good chuckle. It was very interesting to learn a bit more about the Buddhist culture.

Later that night Brian, the boys, Julie, and I came back to the temple for the Taiko drums and Obon dancing. It was really hot and I felt bad for the women dressed in Kimono's. They all looked gorgeous and I guess it goes to show beauty is pain. It is so calming to watch the slow and precise movements that the dancers make. I am happy they are dedicated to learning the dancing and sharing them all with us. At the end of the night the audience can join in and dance a few dances also. We all had a great time dancing and embarrassing ourselves with our lack of grace. Check out our Flickr site for videos and pictures of the day.

No dinner plans...

What does the Hansen Clan do if they have no Sunday dinner plans? Call Bachan and Grandpa and invite them up American Fork Canyon for a barbecue. Most of the picnic spots were under construction and we had to go up about Tibble Fork Reservoir to a campground to find a place to picnic. We found a great little secluded camp spot. I made some nigiri and pasta salad before we left town. We cooked some yummy steaks on our portable BBQ. Bachan and Grandpa cooked some corn on the cob in their rice cooker (courtesy of a portable generator). It was a great meal. Brian and the boys started a camp fire and we all roasted marshmallows. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday night with the family. You can check out all the fun here.

Skating, Bouncing, and Watersliding!!!

We have gone to Classic Fun Center a few times this summer. It is a great place to spend a summer day while the kids are out of school. The kids were able to Rollerblade (Lisa's little ones rode their bikes), go on the giant bouncies (All the kids LOVED Bounce Everest), and also go to the water slides outside. We don't have many pictures because the kids were NEVER holding still.

Boy Scout Camp

Josh had the opportunity to join his Scout Troop (1617) at Camp Tomahawk from July 7th thru July 12th. The camp was located on the east fork of the Bear River in the high Uintas. He had a great time. His favorite story to tell is about getting his Canoeing Merit Badge. He had to row to the middle of the lake with a friend, jump out of the boat, get back in the boat without tipping it, then tip the boat over and drag it back to shore. Then after all that hard work they had to go back out and do it alone. He was very tired that night. Some of his comments on camp were:

The showers were colder than the lake

The food was really good

They went to bed early every night

He told us all about camp when he got home that Friday night. He just failed to tell us one minor detail... One of his friends brought some matches to camp (a big NO NO since a boy scout almost burned down the camp a few years ago, and successfully burned a good portion of the surrounding land) and the boys decided to play with them in the tent. They burned several holes in the troop's tent. Scoutmaster Geist is a saint and was very patient with the boys. Brian went to the troop meeting where a firemarshall came and discussed fire safety. The scoutmaster then said he would patch the tent. Josh had to perform some hard manual labor at home to help understand the severity of his actions. He spent a good 8 hours pulling weeds. I am only writing about this so when Josh looks back in 15 years he remembers the silly things boys do when they are young....

While the cats away...

Well Brian dislikes cats. And I HATE mice... so maybe that's a bad example....

Xander and I were left to our own devices for almost a week. Brian left for Russia on July 5th and Josh left for Boy Scout Camp on July 7th. Xander was feeling a little lonely with no other testosterone in the house. So to perk him up I tried to keep him busy. We went swimming at Dimple Dell and roller blading at Classic Fun Center. It wasn't enough to keep his spirits up. He is a creature of habit and to have his dad and brother gone really got him out of sorts. He was soooooo happy come Thursday the 10th when Brian was due home. He made him a great welcome home sign and we baked some homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Brian always brings us home thoughtful gifts. I always get a bear... but this trip I got a honeybee, inside Piglet, inside Owl, inside Eeyore, inside Rabbit, inside Tigger, inside Winnie the Pooh. It was AWESOME! Brian got Xander and Josh awesome Communist military hats with all sorts of pins.

4th of July

What a FUN day! This has to be our little family's favorite holiday. It could be that I am living with 2 aspiring pyrotechnic engineers and 1 pyromaniac... but I am not sure. :-) We started the day at the Sandy City 4th of July Festival. Lisa brought her kids and I took my little sister's Julie and Aimee. The kids did a couple crafts and went on a few of the blow up bouncie rides. It was hot and we all were starving. The food there wasn't as festive as we would have liked. No navajo tacos or funnel cakes!!! What's up with that?!?!?! So we all headed over to Fudruckers and had some MONSTER burgers. Josh and Brian tackled 2/3 lb burgers. We had to roll them out of there.

Later we went to Bachan Shiba's (Brian's Bachan) for dinner. Uncle Tim flexed his dutch oven skills and made some delicious ribs. I dare to say they rivaled mine in tastiness. The kids all had a giant water fight with water guns, balloons, bottles, cups, and whatever they could get their hands on. A lot of the adults joined in. Eli and Vance really kept the kids entertained in the water for hours. After all the food and fun we started the fireworks. First we went to the church right next to Bachan's to light off the parachutes. The kids love chasing them as they float to the ground. Jalon, Essence, and Farrah really seemed to enjoy the sparklers this year. They were so careful and wanted to keep doing more and more. Josh and Xander are becoming experts at putting on a great show. They planned out each display with precision and we weren't disappointed.

We went home that night and started to prepare Brian for Russia. He left the next morning at 6 am.

Check out Flickr for more of our fun pics.

Baby Fuzzy Turns 1

We celebrated our niece's birthday, Baby Fuzzy (aka Mya Stucki), on June 29th. She turned 1 year old. Her actually birthday was on June 20th but she was a little under the weather for the actual day. We got her the most adorable tutu set from http://www.tutuguru.com/. My friend Deana hand makes them. They are adorable. We got one for Farrah also or she may have swiped Mya's. Mya LOVED her birthday cake and would have eaten the whole thing given the opportunity. What a fun party! Mya also started taking several steps at her party. It was the cutest thing!!!!

Check out our Flickr site for the pictures and videos.

Is that thing safe???

We went to Herriman Town Days on June 27th with Lisa, her kids, Richard (Grandpa), and Vicki (Bachan). They were having a car show so of course all the boys were thrilled. All the cars seem the same to me after the 5th or 6th. They had some fun little carnival rides and blow up bouncies. I normally think that those rides are assembled using a combination of bubble gum and Popsicle sticks. (I am probably right) But I gave in and let the kids go on a few rides. As you can see the 3 big boys had a great time on the ferris wheel. Xander took Jalon on the spinning swings and got a little bout of motion sickness. All the kids made it off the rides with no injuries. I guess they used Bubblicious instead of the generic stuff. They have an awesome dutch oven cook off at Herriman Days. I plan on entering and DOMINATING next year. I make some mean dutch oven food.

Click here to check out our pics. Brian is pretty serious about his car photography.

A TWISTER?!?!?!

It was a dark and stormy night. Thunder clapping and lightening flashing. The sky seemed as if it was going to open up and swallow us all....

That could be the beginning of my best selling novel. Or it was just a crazy storm that blew through town on June 23rd, 2008. The boys ran inside to tell me there was a tornado outside. I went outside to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't see a tornado but there was an awesome lightening show and some funky looking clouds. Brian and the boys still swear a tornado was about to start. I just think they watch too many Discovery Channel shows about storms.

Father's Day 2008

Wow!!!! I am so behind on my blogging.... so here I go in a an attempt to catch up.

Father's day was great this year. The boys bought Brian a really nice aloe vera plant. Sounds like a weird gift, right? Well that is what he wanted. And it was the perfect price range for the boys. They used their own allowance money and purchased it for him. It now sits prominently on the table for our whole family to enjoy. Now if someone could just get a burn so we can use it!!!!!

Brian spent the night before getting his Dad's/Grandpa/Richard's present ready. A little history is needed to explain. Recently, when Grandpa Eli passed away, Brian asked if anyone wanted his extensive stamp collection. No one but Brian had an interest and so he collected THOUSANDS of stamps. Among the treasure we found something REALLY valuable. We opened an manila envelope and found over 40 old letters. They were from Eli's time working at that church office building. They were wonderful letters all expressing their gratitude for the work that Eli had done. It was so amazing to see how his hard work and dedication had touch so many lives. They respected what he did enough to put it in writing. What an awesome testament to the work he did for so many years. Brian knew immediately we needed to preserve these letters for Richard. It was very obvious they had meant something to Eli. The envelope they were stored in had been opened many times. We purchased a book and Brian layed out all the letters/envelopes in chronological order. Needless to say the gift was well received. No one had any clue these letters existed or that Eli had save them all these years. It meant a lot to Brian to pay tribute to his Grandfather for his Father.

We had dinner that night at Mark and Molly's. They BBQ'd some great steaks and we enjoyed spending time as a big extended family.

Anniversary Part Deux

Brian surprised me and bought us George Straight tickets for our anniversary. But the concert wasn't until July.

We got to the USANA amphitheater pretty earlier because our seats were general admission. And thankfully we did. The line was so long. It nearly circled the entire parking lot. Luckily we got there early enough that we were not at the end. We only had to wait about 45 minutes until they opened the gates. We found a great spot near the middle of the stage on the grass.

Great concert... Blake Shelton was awesome too
Fabulous company... Nights like these remind me of how much I love Brian

Brian parked across the street and got a great spot. We were able to get of the concert, walk to the truck, and make it out on the main road in about 22 minutes. Which apparently is rare. Most people I talk to say it has taken them hours to get out.

Pictures

Russia

I went to Russia for work. I think we accomplished a lot and even got a bit of sight-seeing done. I'm too lazy to type. I type all day. Making videos is more fun anyway.

Here are the videos that I recorded in Russia. I was never able to upload them there because they were too big and I think the hotel was restricting bandwidth or something.

I am going to try and post descriptions to most of the pictures in the Flickr set as well.

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty... I mean Fishy

We found an amazing fishing pond in Herriman. It is a great community park located near the Cove at Herriman Springs. The pond is stocked with trout in the spring and catfish once it gets warm. We had a VERY successful fishing trip as you can see. And have gone back a few times. It is a great way to spend time as a family. Lisa guys and Richard and Vicki have also come with us a time or two. Xander is becoming quite a barbecue master and cooked us up some wonderful hamburgers at the pond one night. We have really enjoyed the fishing trips so fart this summer. I am sure we will continue to do more. Check out the videos and pictures of our fishing trips so far...